The invention relates to a subcaliber kinetic energy projectile of the type including a generally cylindrical elongated projectile body having a cone-shaped tip at its front end and a fin assembly at its rear tail end for fin stabilization, and wherein a propelling cage sabot formed of a plurality of segments, surrounds a central portion of the projectile body.
Such kinetic energy projectiles are known from German Pat. No. 1703507. Kinetic energy projectiles of the known species also make possible the attack of difficult armored targets against which projectiles based on the shaped charge principle are no longer sufficiently effective.
However, it has been found that, because of further improvements in the target armor, especially on account of the utilization of multi-layered armor, the penetration effectiveness of the kinetic energy projectiles described above no longer satisfies all of the demands made on it.